Stiff wind slabs may be reactive to human triggers.
Confidence
High - The weather pattern is stable
Weather Forecast
The arctic ridge will continue to bring cold, outflow winds and dry weather to the coast tomorrow. Thursday will see a slight change when the low slides south bringing some precipitation. Wednesday: Sunny with some cloudy periods. Treeline temperatures near -7 with light ridgetop winds from the North.Thursday: Cloudy with sunny periods. Treeline temperatures near -5 with light ridgetop winds from the North and freezing levels 200 m.Friday: Cloudy with some snow. Treeline temperatures near -5 with light ridgetop winds from the northeast. Freezing levels rising to 300 m.
Avalanche Summary
No recent avalanches have been reported in the region.
Snowpack Summary
In the alpine, 40-60 cm of storm snow fell last weekend and sits above a crust or heavily wind affected old snow surfaces. Strong outflow winds have redistributed and formed isolated wind slabs at most elevations. At the treeline elevation and below 5-10 cm of snow from last weekend now sits on a supportive crust. The mid-pack is well-settled and strong.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.